A federal appeals court has blocked certain key provisions of Alabama’s anti-immigrant law while the constitutionality of the law is under determination. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit enjoined two provisions of the law that had gone into effect following a federal district court’s decision in Alabama. The injunction suspends these two provisions while the court of appeals considers the parties’ appeals from the decision of the lower court. Provisions that have not been enjoined by either the district court or the court of appeals remain in effect.

A coalition of civil rights groups has filed a lawsuit against South Carolina’s anti-immigrant law, charging it is unconstitutional, invites racial profiling, and interferes with federal law. The complaint was filed in the wake of devastating harms only two weeks after a similar anti-immigrant law went into effect in Alabama, where families have been afraid to leave their homes and individuals have been stopped and questioned about their immigration status.

The federal district court has denied emergency requests to block harmful provisions of HB 56, Alabama’s anti-immigrant law. The requests to block key provisions of the law were made by a coalition of civil rights organizations, as well the U.S. Dept. of Justice. In its emergency request, the coalition presented evidence of harms already suffered by Alabamians as a result of provisions that were allowed to take effect Sept. 28.